Day: 12 May 2017

Well, we took a day off walking today.  We looked at the long climb tomorrow (that we do want to do) and decided that a long walk today before it would be too much.  That, and it was raining still.  We called a cab for later in the morning.

I took the time to run over for another look at the Gaudi designed Bishop’s Palace. It is amazing the attention to detail that Gaudi put into his designs.  The place is a museum now, full of carved saints rescued from churches in the area.  I don’t think the bishop ever lived there.

The taxi took us, along with Jennie, the Australian  woman we have been spending time with, to our hotel in Rabanal del Camino. Her husband opted to do the walk, and did it in four hours.  It took the cab less than 20 minutes. When you are in the front seat of a Spanish cab, objects on the horizon get larger much faster than if I were driving.  There were many obstacles on the narrow road at times – pilgrims in ponchos, pilgrims on bicycles and none of them seemed to worry the cabbie.

Rabanal del Camino is another Camino town stretched out for a few hundred meters along the track.  There was a Templar presence here in the 12th century to ensure pilgrims safe passage over the mountain area to follow.  The hotel is just another of the rock walled buildings along the row.  We have a very small room, but the bar and dining room are quite nice.

There appear to be two churches in town.  The newer, with 1733 scratched on its wall, was closed.  It may be an albergue at times.

The other, a very old Romanesque design, is right across the way from the hotel.  It has been taken over by a group of Benedictine monks from Bavaria, who run it and a small albergue nearby.  The church is exceedingly quaint, well suited to the monks. As well as normal masses, they hold lauds, vesper and compline services for the pilgrims.  We both attended the vesper service and Vic was asked to do a reading, as a result of demonstrating some religious knowledge to one of the monks. Three monks and several local people sang the service in Latin – the old way that Vic remembers from her youth.  The old church was just the right setting for their singing.  Vic also went to the compline service which includes a Pilgrim’s Blessing.  After doing the reading at vespers she also wanted the blessing.